Distress Embossing Glaze Techniques for the Art Journal

I love when new colors of Distress Embossing Glaze are released, these beautiful bright colors are perfect for spring! Today I wanted to share with you some of my favorite embossing glaze techniques and how to use these glazes to create beautiful resists.

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Distress Embossing Glazes

If you haven’t heard of Distress embossing glazes, this is a unique embossing product. These translucent embossing powders are so versatile because they can be layered and color mixed unlike traditional embossing powders. The Distress embossing glazes are also perfect for resist techniques and for adding texture and shine to your projects.

Art Journal Page “Share Your Story”

As with all my art journal pages, they are often inspired by something I am experiencing in my life. Lately I’ve been thinking about the importance of sharing my story.

We are unique and all have something to share with the world. Sometimes it can be hard to hold onto that. There can be so much pressure to conform, to do art and life like everyone else. But at the end of the day, we need to embrace who we are. We have a unique perspective that we can offer to those around us.

Seeing Another Perspective

My experience with this has been through a weekly art journaling class that I attend. I meet with a wonderful group of ladies and through our conversations I am often reminded how valuable diverse perspectives are to my life. By being around such a diverse group It has made me see the world in a different way. I am reminded how each person has something unique to add to the conversation.

I have had a similar experience with the drawing class I’ve been taking. The subject matter that we are inspired by varies so much for each artist.

In this class when people share their favorite images, I am inspired by some images while others are not my taste. The beauty of diversity is that we don’t all have to like the same things. We can choose something that is unique to us. But seeing these differences may help us to appreciate different tastes and perspectives and learn something about ourselves through the process.  

The key is to embrace a different point of view without judgement. We don’t need to agree with it or understand it but just see it as a unique perspective. When we do this, this gives the opportunity to learn, grow, and see things from a different point of view.

Distress Embossing Glaze Techniques

Distress embossing glazes seemed to be the perfect medium to add these thoughts to my journal. I had a set of Mod Cactus stamps from Stamper’s Anonymous that I hadn’t played with yet. I love the fun and whimsical design of this stamp set. What I love about the cacti is that they are all unique and different. It was the perfect image for this art journal page!

Layering Embossing Glazes

One of my favorite Distress embossing glaze techniques is creating layers with the glazes. To add multiple layers to an image, use a fine tipped embossing pen. By using an embossing pen you can draw with the embossing ink in a very precise manner.  

The best way to add the distress embossing glaze is to work in layers. Draw in your first lines with the embossing ink, add your preferred color of embossing powder and heat set.

Add embossing ink in the next area that you would like to add your next color. If you would like to blend or gradate the color, add embossing ink on top of the embossed areas that you have already heat set. The embossing pen gives you the control to add color in layers and allows you to create different shades.

Shading and Layering

When creating the layers, I tend to either go light to dark or dark to light depending on the colors that I choose. For the cacti in this art journal page I started some of the images with my darkest embossing glaze, Peeled Paint.

I then overlapped with a brighter embossing glaze, Twisted Citron. For some of these images I also added Cracked Pistachio distress glaze to add more of a blue-green hue to my cacti instead of just sticking with yellow-green hues.

When going light to dark, start with Fossilized Amber, add in Twisted Citron and finished off with Peeled Paint. There is so many different combinations of colors to get beautiful shades and color mixes.  

If you notice that the embossing glazes are sticking to the page in areas that you do not want, use a dry paint brush to brush off the embossing powder. You can also use an anti-static pouch on the page before adding ink and embossing powder. This will help the embossing glaze only stick to the areas with ink.

Embossing Pens

There are a variety of embossing ink pens available but be mindful of the embossing ink color. Embossing pens come in clear ink, but they also come in grey ink. There are benefits to both types of pens.

When using clear embossing ink, you will get the true translucent color of the distress embossing glazes, but it may be harder to see where you are adding ink to your page.

With grey embossing ink, the shade of the ink is a mid-grey, which will dull and darken the color of the embossing glazes when applied. But it is very easy to see where you add color using the grey embossing ink, which is the benefit of using grey pens.

Distress Embossing Glaze with India Ink

For some of the cacti pots, I added permanent India ink to the image using my Faber Castell Pitt pens. As the details on the pots are small, this creates variation of color without having to add embossing glazes to such small areas.

After adding the Pitt pen color, add a layer of embossing ink and Distress embossing glaze overtop and heat set it. As the embossing glaze is translucent, you will be able to see the color of the pen underneath. When using this technique, use a color wheel to make sure that your color choices complement each other.  

Adding Shine to Titles

You can also mix inks and embossing powders to create shine and variation in a title. The title for this page was stamped using Villainous Potion archival ink. I added a layer of clear embossing ink overtop with a pen and applied Wilted Violet Distress Embossing Glaze.

This created a custom blend of color, dimension and shine on the title. I purposely added the embossing ink just past the letters, so that when embossing glaze was added this creates a subtle shadow effect to the words.

Resist Techniques with Distress Embossing Glazes

I love resist techniques and the distress embossing glazes are the perfect resist for adding layers to the background after the focal images are applied. Why the distress embossing glazes work as a resist is because the embossing glaze is a slippery acrylic medium once heat set. When you add inks and watercolor mediums on top of the embossing glazes, they will not stick to the embossing glaze creating a resist.

Adding Distress Ink

After embossing you can add a light layer of Squeezed Lemonade Distress Ink across the entire page using a blending tool. The Embossing glazes will resist the ink so they can be added to the background without discoloring the images.

I love adding pattern to my background, so using a stencil and blending tool, add Tumbled Glass and Broken China Distress Ink through the stencil. If you find that the darker colors are adding discoloration to the embossing glazes, wipe the image with a paper towel to remove any excess ink.

Adding Lunar Pastes

Adding lunar pastes to your page is another great way of adding shine and opacity to your projects. Using a blending tool, push a small amount of lunar paste through a stencil in a circular motion. Unlike other mediums, the Lunar Paste can be thinned out to create an opaque surface that resembles a shiny acrylic paint.

The lunar paste will stick to the embossing glaze images. Take a baby wipe and carefully remove the paste from the image. Be careful not to disturb the embossing ink as it will smudge in contact with water.

Why Use a Resist?

You may be wondering why I added the focal images first instead of creating the background first. As the distress embossing glazes are translucent, any background color will be seen through the embossing glazes. For this project I wanted the focal image to be the cacti, which is why I added the background last.

The distress embossing glazes are great for techniques like this as they can be shaded but still add a lot of dimension and interest to a project.

Questions?

Any questions about these distress embossing glaze techniques? Leave your comments below and I would love to start a conversation with you! I hope that you give one of these a try in your next project. I love the new colors of distress embossing glazes that are in much brighter hues. They are ideal for creating beautiful, vibrant art journal pages.   

Project Supply List

• Strathmore Bristol 300 Series Paper
• Distress Embossing Glazes: Twisted Citron, Peeled Paint, Fossilized Amber, Cracked Pistachio, Picked Raspberry, Wilted Violet, Salty Ocean, Broken China
• Stampers Anonymous Mod Cactus Stamp Set
• Ranger Jet Black Archival Ink
• Tim Holtz Distress Embossing Pens Bullet and Brush- Clear
• Ranger Embossing It Pens Bullet and Brush- Grey
• Faber Castell Pitt Pens Basic Set
• Tim Holtz THS002 Bubble Stencil
• Simon Says Stamp Abstract Triangle Stencil
• Ranger Distress Blending Tool Mini
• Ranger Mini Domed Ink Blending Foams
• Distress Ink Squeezed Lemonade, Tumbled Glass, Broken China
• Ranger Simon Hurley Lunar Paste Clear Skies
• Staples 90lb white cardstock
• Wild Whisper Designs Brush Script and Ledger & Script Stamp Sets
• Distress Archival Ink Villainous Potion
• EK Success Cutter Bee Scissors
• Glue Dots Mini
• Martha Stewart Crafts Embossing Heat Tool
• Paint Brush
• Ranger Anti-Static Pouch
• Baby Wipes